Damian Maia triangle from half guard

Strength or conditioning?

What do you think is more important? I have always been biased towards strength. Part of that is based on my natural preferences and strengths. I prefer lifting to running. However, since my main focus has always been self defense, I feel strength is more crucial. As one of my online buddies has often said, " in the real world, relative strength doesn't mean shit". It is much more likely for some one to over power me in a street altercation then out last me. I figure if I can go hard for 3-5 minutes, my conditioning is good enough and I can spend more time getting stronger.
Now if competition is your goal, conditioning is way more important. Weight classes limit the strength difference and more fights have been lost to gassing then anything else. If you are still going strong late in the match, you will be more effective.

What are your thoughts?

Tito Ortiz Highlight

In honour of Tito Ortiz' Retirement fight last night here is a highlight I found. Tito was a MMA pioneer and a warrior who fought the best of the best his whole career. Although he lost last night, it was almost the perfect way to go, losing a close fight to another former champion. Enjoy.

Gordo Half Guard sweep #3

Third sweep in a series of Half guard sweeps by one of the pioneer's of the offensive half guard Roberto “Gordo” Correa.

Gordo Half Guard sweep #2

The second in a series of Half guard sweeps by one of the pioneer's of the offensive half guard Roberto “Gordo” Correa.

Gordo Half guard sweep

The first in a series of Half guard sweeps by one of the pioneer's of the offensive half guard Roberto “Gordo” Correa.

What he is still updating this?

I don't update this very often anymore there are two main reasons. The first is that becuase of a military course and an injury sustained on that course I have trained in a couple of months. The second is that prior to going on course I was more in a refining stage rather than a learning stage. I primarily post new things up here as a journal and maybe for people who stumble on my blog to learn a couple of things. Well today I learned something new. Even though I am still out of training for (hopefully only) a few more days, I converse with a few very intelligent people by the names of Cecil Burch and Jerry Wetzel on a regular basis. Cecil and Jerry are trainers for Crazy Monkey Defense (CMD or CM) a striking style devised by Rodney King or south africa. On the surface it looks very much like a mix of boxing and MT and the question was put forward recently, what is the difference between CM and western Boxing. Rather than try an explain it myself, I am going to post a few of the better quotes to help people understand the difference.

Cecil Burch:
Most systems pay lip service to defense and emphasize the offensive part. So when a newbie gets to spar for the first time, it is going to be hard enough to maintain his protective wall. Add the fact that he is most likely going to be thrown into the deep end under extreme pressure, the situation is worsened. In CM you are exposed to pressure right away, but it is just enough to push you without overwhelming the person and collapsing the structure you are attempting to internalize.

The analogy I use to give people an idea of what pressure to use on their partner is that we are pushing the envelope as much as possible without tearing the paper. So as the person gets grooved in, the pressure can progressively (and continuously) increase.

Jerry Weztel:

The fundamental goal in CM is to provide a solid defensive structure that is behaviorally congruent to what we do under pressure while at the same time keeping things simple and efficient. Traditional slip, parry, catch, and bob and weave take a very long time to develop if they do develop and in the mean time people are going to take a lot of punches. Most will end up quitting long before they develop this skill. Furthermore, even if these skills are developed, the addition of kicks, clinch striking, and takedowns make these not the safest options to say the least. There is still slipping and ducking, but it is modified to fit with the rest of the game plan. The cover is different to what is taught in boxing due to the square stance and is taught differently.

This is not to say that CM is just about defense. Having a bulletproof defense allows for strong offense. Rather than having to sit back and wait for a break in the opponents offense, the defensive structure allows one to come forward aggressively without worry about counters. There are a few strikes that would be considered unorthodox to someone from a western boxing background as well.

If you are looking for a striking game that is not attribute based and is based on tight defense, CM is a great option. You can check it out here:
http://www.crazymonkeydefense.com/site/